The Carthage men’s and ladies’ wrestling teams arrived at Mizzou Arena for day one of the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships on Friday, February 28th. The ladies started the competition off at 1:15pm with the first round of competition. Freshman Kaylee James and sophomores Emely Hernandez Guzman and Irish Lee competed in the 130-, 135- and 140-pound weight classes respectively. Kaylee James started off the day in typical style with a fall over Josephine Crowley of Lindbergh, keeping her on the front side of the bracket in preparation for the quarterfinals later that afternoon. Emely hit a few roadblocks in the form of first and second round losses to Rock Bridge and Lindbergh, unfortunately knocking her out of the rest of the tournament. Irish Lee started off a little rocky with a loss to Lucy Moore of Parkway West but recovered with falls in each of her four following consolation rounds, including the consolation semifinals. This earns Lee a spot going for third place in the 140-pound girls Class 2 MSHSAA State Championships.
Kaylee James continued her quest for greatness with falls in her quarterfinal and semifinal matches over St. Joseph Central and Wentzville North Point, earning her a spot in Saturday evening’s championship match. James continues to make history as Carthage’s first COC and District Champ, state qualifier and girls state placer going for first place.
On the men’s side, sophomores Caden Groom (126 pounds) and Randy Teo (106 pounds) had a tough day of competition. Teo ran into two hammers from Liberty High School (defending Class 4 team champions) and Battle High School in Columbia, MO, losing by technical fall in both matches. Groom took a first round decision over Francis Howell North’s Noah Brown, a freshman, but dropped a heartbreaker to Staley’s Zayne Reynolds in a 5-4 decision. Groom bounced back in the consolation round 2 with a 7-4 decision over Kirkwood’s Dylan Krupper. Saturday morning brought an equally difficult match, however, as Groom fell to Lafayette’s Calum Brown in a major decision, 12-0, eliminating him from the tournament.
Irish Lee will compete for third place at 3pm Saturday afternoon and Kaylee James will go for her first state title Saturday evening at 5:45 pm.
130 Class 2
Kaylee James (39-1) placed 2nd and scored 24.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Kaylee James (Carthage) 39-1 won by fall over Josephine Crowley (Lindbergh) 22-12 (Fall 1:02)
Quarterfinal – Kaylee James (Carthage) 39-1 won by fall over Madelynn Hughes (Central (St. Joseph)) 27-10 (Fall 1:09)
Semifinal – Kaylee James (Carthage) 39-1 won by fall over Ayamba Abunaw (North Point) 37-10 (Fall 3:21)
135 Class 2
Emely Hernandez Guzman (11-14) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Jacinda Espinosa (Rock Bridge) 33-3 won by tech fall over Emely Hernandez Guzman (Carthage) 11-14 (TF-1.5 1:15 (21-2))
Cons. Round 1 – Quinn Hope (Lindbergh) 27-15 won by fall over Emely Hernandez Guzman (Carthage) 11-14 (Fall 2:21)
140 Class 2
Irish Lee (31-11) placed 4th and scored 19.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Lucy Moore (Parkway West) 40-11 won by fall over Irish Lee (Carthage) 31-11 (Fall 2:43)
Cons. Round 1 – Irish Lee (Carthage) 31-11 won by fall over Ava Blankenship (Platte County) 24-20 (Fall 1:51)
Cons. Round 2 – Irish Lee (Carthage) 31-11 won by fall over Madison Lightner (Fort Osage) 32-20 (Fall 2:20)
Cons. Round 3 – Irish Lee (Carthage) 31-11 won by fall over Caroline Owens (Seckman) 38-16 (Fall 0:59)
Cons. Semi – Irish Lee (Carthage) 31-11 won by fall over Brooke Dollard (Troy Buchanan) 36-18 (Fall 2:06)
106 Class 4
Randy Teo Monzon (26-12) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Rowdy Angst (Liberty) 29-10 won by tech fall over Randy Teo Monzon (Carthage) 26-12 (TF-1.5 2:52 (19-2))
Cons. Round 1 – Finn Wilson (Battle) 33-15 won by tech fall over Randy Teo Monzon (Carthage) 26-12 (TF-1.5 1:37 (19-1))
126 Class 4
Caden Groom (34-6) place is unknown and scored 3.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 – Caden Groom (Carthage) 34-6 won by decision over Noah Brown (Francis Howell North) 36-8 (Dec 10-7)
Quarterfinal – Zayne Reynolds (Staley) 32-1 won by decision over Caden Groom (Carthage) 34-6 (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Round 2 – Caden Groom (Carthage) 34-6 won by decision over Dylan Crupper (Kirkwood) 39-13 (Dec 7-3)
